Page 67 of Earned Husband

“I was hoping you’d say that.” He sat down, letting out the softest breath of relief once he’d settled in. “God, that was a lot more intense than I thought it would be.”

I chuckled. “Congratulations on surviving.”

“Thanks. It was touch and go for a minute there.”

“I noticed, but don’t worry,” I said quietly. “I don’t think anyone else did. You played the part of cool, calm, and collected exceptionally well.”

“If that’s true, I should be nominated for an Oscar,” he joked as dinner was served around us.

Conversations started back up around the table once my father had sat down, glassing clinking together as people toasted and drank to our futures. Waiters moved from one person to the next, setting down appetizers and refilling drinks.

My brothers were finally back to normal too, their black intimidation jackets now hanging over the backs of their chairs. One by one, they were rolling up their sleeves and loosening their ties, already back to arguing about football and the latest performance by our national team.

With everyone else distracted, Colin leaned slightly closer to me, enough that I caught the rich, gorgeous fragrance of one of our most popular masculine scents on him. “I have something to tell you.”

“Is it that you’ve ditched Armani?”

He smirked and my heart skipped several beats. My breathing even sped up a little when he looked at me like that, but then he shook his head and I willed my body to calm the hell down.

“It’s not that,” he said quietly, then tugged at the collar of his shirt. “I wore this for you.”

Warmth spread through my chest when I looked past his jacket and recognized one of the royal blue silk shirts I’d sent him. Before I could stop myself, I reached out and ran a finger across the cuff. “It looks good on you. You clean up nicely, Mr. Thayer.”

“It’s impossible not to when you’ve got clothes like this at your disposal.”

I smiled. “Is it comfortable? I was a bit worried about the fit.”

Those gray eyes held mine so intently that I started tingling all over. “It’s perfect.”

Resisting the urge to lean in and kiss him, I eased back a little bit, inhaling a deep breath while trying to pretend that I hadn’t been daydreaming about that one little peck since the moment it’d happened. It really hadn’t been much, but it’d still felt so good that I was dying to do it again.

Colin let out the softest, barely there groan when I caught myself staring at his lips, then cleared his throat and sat up a little straighter. “So, what’s next in our engagement… parade? What’s it even called?”

I took a moment to gather my thoughts, but the tension simmering between us made it difficult to even breathe, let alone think. “Just the rituals, and the next one is, uh, Al-Khutbah.”

He frowned. “That’s the engagement announcement, right?”

“Well, in essence, yes. Al-Khutbah is where everyone officially finds out that we’re engaged.”

I could’ve sworn I saw a glimmer of relief in his eyes. “Everyone already knows, don’t they?”

“Our families do,” I said, brushing the backs of my knuckles against his thigh under the table. I really wanted to take his hand, but there were too many nosy people around. “Al-Khutbah is when the rest of the world formally finds out. My extended family, friends, and my father’s business associates, my mother’s social circle, and our own business associates. Clients. The works.”

Colin reached slowly for his water. “That sounds big.”

“It’s huge,” I confirmed softly. “There will be music, dancing, flowers, and more food than you’ll probably ever have seen in your entire life.”

“I’m starting to sense a theme.”

I laughed. “Food is very much central to our culture. It’s a whole thing.”

He took a long sip of his water before he turned to look at me again, but before he could say anything, my dad stood up, his voice carrying across the room. “There is one more matter I would like to bring to everyone’s attention.”

Every conversation around the table cut off. My brothers fell silent, too, despite being right in the middle of their heated argument about The Pharaohs’ current roster.

Dad smiled. “In a few days, after my board meetings are complete and White Water Lily has launched its new collection, we will travel together to our vacation home. The entire family is expected to be there.”

I frowned and Jasmine let out a grunt that made it sound like she was in physical pain. “Oh no.”